Sunday, 2 February 2014

Thank God it's February...

Well thank goodness, the worst month of the year has finally
got the juice-dieting, hot yoga dripping message and buggered off until it
rears its ugly, 31-day-long head again next year. I mean really, I don’t like
to moan (much), but what is it about this month that makes it so damn
anti-social? Detox’s that lead to retox’s of epic proportions, everyone from
Primark to Prada flashing their best neon sports bras, kale, quinoa, more
kale...

Any time of year that spells a month long battle to surgically
remove the pine needles somehow ingrained into the carpet in the corner of the
living room that once proudly housed glistening parcels and twinkling fairy
lights, has just a little too much cheek for my liking. Add the inevitable post-Mulled Wine/Mince pie/Monopoly/General
Festive comedown to the veganism, circuit training, alcohol-free ridiculousness
of the other miseries that we force upon ourselves at this time, and you have a
severe and unavoidable case of January Blues on your hands before Jools Holland
has even kicked off the first verse of Auld Lang Syne.

Slime hued juices with the unmistakable odour of a vegetarian
cafe’s compost bin, gyms so busy that the most exercise you get is squeezing
your Christmas curves into your spandex leggings, and most of all, bloody
resolutions. Promises that the pile of leftover Quality Street and Chocolate
Orange in the corner of the lounge are sure to quash before the calendar has
even been taken out of its plastic wrapping; leading not to the slender thighs
or Gweneth Paltrow abs that you were imaging, but to more guilt than written on
the smiling face of a Justin Beiber mug-shot.

Ah, yes, guilt; it catches up with us all. I mean, there is
only so long I can live on Celebrations and Prosecco before people start to
gossip...

So, while everyone else is gorging on baby spinach and
pretending they don’t wish their pint of water was a pint of Gin, there is
something about soup that makes me feel slightly less rebellious. And this
vitamin packed beauty is so far from naughty that it’s almost frustratingly
angelic; think the wondrously wholesome, knicker-knitting, wood-whittling Kisrtie
Allsopp of the soup world, just slightly less irritating and not nearly as
posh.

Crammed with loads of delicious veggies, bursting with just
enough sunny lemon flavours to clear that miserable sky and zinging with the
gentle hum of fennel and caraway; this is soup with super written all over it.
Add the subtle crunch of super-trendy, mega good for you quinoa, soft lentils
and the amazing, fresh aroma of Rosemary and you have a meal on your hands that
will make your 2014 instantly better. Particularly if you cancel out all that
goodness with a large serving of something wonderfully naughty for afters. Its
all about the balance, after all...

Super-Food Soup

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic,
finely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 sticks of celery,
diced

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp caraway seeds

1/2tsp garam marsala

1/2tsp tumeric

1 courgette, diced

1ltr hot chicken or
vegetable stock

60g red lentils

30g quinoa

½ savoy cabbage,
shredded

A good pinch of dried
or fresh rosemary

1 lemon

In a large saucepan, gently fry the onion, garlic, celery
and carrot in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent and everything
is starting to soften

Add the spices and courgette and fry, stirring, for another
3 minutes

Add the hot stock, a couple of lemon wedges, lentils and
quinoa and simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes

Stir in the cabbage and cook for another 5-10 minutes or
until everything is cooked through and the soup is thick

Squeeze in the remaining lemon and season well. Serve with
sourdough toast and remember to wear your halo...